Joan Kennedy Placed on ‘Suicide Watch’ After Suffering ‘Heartbreaks’ Back to Back

Joan Kennedy’s final years were marked by unimaginable heartbreak — and those closest to her feared she might not survive it.

According to insiders, the former wife of late Senator Ted Kennedy was placed on “suicide watch” after enduring back-to-back losses that shattered her world.

Joan’s ex-husband Ted died of brain cancer in 2009, and just two years later, their daughter Kara passed away suddenly at age 51. Sources told RadarOnline that Joan was “crying herself to sleep” and had loved ones terrified she’d relapse into drinking.

The claims have resurfaced following confirmation that Joan Kennedy passed away peacefully in her sleep at her Boston home on October 8. She was 89.

Joan Bennett Kennedy first met Ted through his sister, Jean, in the 1950s. Despite early doubts about marriage, the powerful Kennedy family patriarch, Joe Kennedy, pushed the two to wed — and in 1958, they did.

Together, Joan and Ted had three children: Ted Jr., Patrick, and Kara. But behind the polished public image was a storm of scandal, infidelity, and addiction.

Their marriage suffered under the weight of political pressure and personal demons — particularly after the 1969 Chappaquiddick tragedy, when Ted’s car went off a bridge, killing 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne. Joan’s drinking worsened in the years that followed, and the couple eventually separated in 1978 before finalizing their divorce in 1983.

Though Ted went on to remarry attorney Victoria Reggie in 1992, Joan never remarried — and by all accounts, she never stopped loving him.

When Ted died in August 2009 after a long fight with brain cancer, Joan was said to be “utterly devastated.” And just as she was beginning to heal, tragedy struck again.

Her daughter Kara — a cancer survivor and her closest companion — died suddenly of a heart attack in 2011. Friends said the loss sent Joan spiraling into isolation.

“She had been a mess since Ted’s death, and it got worse when she lost Kara,” one insider said at the time. “Her friends and family were terrified she’d fall off the wagon again.”

For decades, Joan was candid about her struggles with alcoholism. Despite periods of sobriety, relapses were frequent, and she faced multiple drunk-driving arrests. Loved ones reportedly kept close watch as her grief deepened.

“She cried herself to sleep every night,” one source recalled. “She didn’t want to go out, didn’t want to answer the phone — she just looked dreadful.”

After years of battling loss, addiction, and loneliness, Joan Kennedy found peace at last — but her story remains one of immense strength shadowed by tragedy.